


Swim Lessons

by ToastyToaster22



Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [6]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Angst and Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Is this crack?, Mama Sora and Dad Jou are here to save the day, Miyako makes an oopsie, Pool Shenanigans, did anyone ever teach this idiot how to swim?, heat waves, no?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22336240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyToaster22/pseuds/ToastyToaster22
Summary: Miyako was in a foul mood. It wasn't her fault. It was the heat. She was not made for this disgusting, sweltering, boiling heat. It wouldn't have happened if Takeru and Daisuke hadn't been so rowdy. A girl needed her space on a day like this.But maybe... But maybe Miyako shouldn't have pushed Takeru into the deep end. The terror in his eyes as he went under told her that "maybe" was actually a "definitely".
Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605736
Comments: 3
Kudos: 58





	Swim Lessons

Miyako's heart stopped right about the same moment her hands left Takeru's chest. Did she expect him to be surprised? Yes. Annoyed? Perhaps. His face twisted in an amusing mixture of 'haha' and 'oh shit'? Sure.

What she did not expect was the sudden overwhelming _panic_ that crossed his face.

Arms flailed, trying to find something to save himself on, but they met only air. For a brief, gut wrenching moment, Takeru was airborne, his feet having lost their purchase on the wet edge of the pool deck. Miyako watched as he went in back first, mouth open in shock.

And then he was under.

The girl's only coherent thought was that she hadn't seen Takeru go in the deep end all day.

* * *

"Where the heck is everyone?" Miyako grouched, squinting around the parking lot. "It's a million degrees out, who wouldn't want to go swimming?" Sweat dripped out from under her straw hat and made its way down the back of her neck. She slapped at it in frustration.

Honestly, she would rather have been at the beach. At least there was a breeze there. But the storm that had brought all this disgusting weather in the first place was still offshore, churning up dangerous riptides. The beach had closed until the currents calmed. So here she was, baking even in the shade of the pool house's roof, waiting for the rest of her friends to arrive.

"Well," a brave soul answered. "Onii-san has band practice, Taichi somehow still has soccer, Koushiro's grandmother is visiting, and Iori has kendo, but he said he might be able to come after."

Miyako slowly turned to level an unimpressed stare at Takeru. He sat on the bench between Hikari and Daisuke, an overly innocent smile gracing his lips. Outwardly, Miyako attempted to project as much distain for his response to her rhetorical question as possible. Inwardly, she was baffled at his ability to track the whereabouts of twelve people on a daily basis. She had a hard time remembering her own siblings' schedules.

"Jyou's probably studying."

Raising an eyebrow, she dared him to continue.

"And Mimi's in America," Takeru supplied, either ignoring or enjoying her ire. "So really we're just waiting for Sora. Tennis practice got out early. Because it's hot." He rolled his head in the purple haired girl's direction. With the lazy smile he was giving her, Miyako swore he was deliberately baiting her.

"And how is it," Miyako hissed, fanning herself with her sunglasses. "That you look cool as a cucumber over there while I feel like an overcooked pastry?"

Takeru blinked slowly at her, the smile almost fading from his face.

"It's a mirage. I'm frying," He deadpanned.

"Yeah, and you stink dude, why are you so close to me?" Daisuke elbowed Takeru in the arm, pulling away from him.

The blond only responded by leaning even more on his friend. Daisuke struggled to push him and his dead weight away with little success. On Daisuke's other side, Ken heaved a long-suffering sigh at the increasingly violent jostling. It wasn't long before he stood, allowing his friends to slump into his vacated spot. The chosen of kindness joined Miyako in standing, the two exchanging an exasperated glance.

Up close, she could see how flushed he was. Dark hair clung to his forehead and his t-shirt stuck to his back. A quick sweep of her friends revealed much of the same. Her eyes lingered on her sole female friend present. Hikari listlessly toyed with the strap of the bag that sat in her lap, her eyes glazed and staring sightlessly across the rapidly filling lot. The flush on her cheeks was darker than on any of the boys'… But not dark enough to make Miyako worry.

Takeru had noticed too, she could tell. Even as he lay propped against Daisuke, (who had promptly declared it too hot to fight, and was now laying in Ken's spot with his arm over his eyes) the chosen of hope had his hand deep in his pocket. His eyes flickered back and forth from his near overheated friend and the vendor at the far end of the parking lot. Miyako would bet her left foot that he was playing with his wallet. As cute as it was to watch Takeru debate with himself about buying Hikari an ice cream, it wouldn't be necessary.

"Sora's here," Ken announced.

Miyako's eyebrows flew up and were lost under her hat.

"Holy crap, she brought Jyou. How the hell did she manage that?"

The rest of the chosen children rose to greet their older friends. Takeru shot Miyako a significant look.

"Sora can be very convincing."

Behind him, Hikari hid a giggle behind her hand.

At the confused look on her face, Takeru offered, "She spends most of her time reigning in our brothers. Jyou was probably refreshingly easy for her."

* * *

A massive groan escaped Miyako when the whistle sounded. It was the fifteen-minute warning that the pool was going to close, and the girl was not ready to leave the paradise that was the cool water. She vaguely considered staying in until the very last minute, but angering the lifeguards was probably not in her best interests. They were already miffed about the chicken fights they had started.

She ducked under one last time and reveled in the feeling of the water washing over her. Coming up, she saw the others already packing up their things. Miyako huffed out another loud breath and reluctantly waded over to the stairs.

The puddles around the pool were warm, the shallow water squelching between her toes. Miyako pulled her towel from her bag and wrapped herself in it, ignoring the chatter of her companions. Her towel was warm as well, and frustratingly damp. The water bottle she had packed must have sweat all over it. It had been crammed full of ice that morning, but it had long since melted. She took a few gulps of it anyway. It was nearly as warm as the puddle water and the similarity grossed her out completely.

Miyako wished her heat induced sour mood wouldn't return so quickly. Everyone else seemed refreshed and cheery. Didn't it bother them to leave? How could Daisuke be pulling his shirt back on without even drying off? The thought of having a wet shirt sticking to her nearly made her shudder. Jyou was even putting his socks and shoes back on, and it repulsed her. Miyako yearned for bare feet and soft sand, for leaving the water when she was good and ready, not when some shrill whistle told her go away. The beach was all fresh air and open space. This pool was fine for cooling down, but it hadn't been able to quell her irritation for long.

Her friends moved around her, and she paid them little attention. The world once again returned to a hot, hazy blur.

The group moved along the edge of the pool towards the exit. The frustrated teen tried to focus on her feet and take deep, calming breaths. It might have worked if not for Daisuke and Takeru. They were shoving at each other as they walked behind her, happily bickering about goodness knew what. Miyako could sense Jyou stressing about it, and Sora's exasperated tone further prickled at her nerves.

A particularly forceful shove sent one of the boys banging into her from behind. His foot caught the back of her flip flop and yanked her to an ungraceful stop.

Temper boiling over, Miyako spun in place and shoved right back.

" _Knock it off_!" she howled.

Miyako had been banking on the recipient of her push being Daisuke. They shoved each other around enough that she was sure he'd forgive her quickly. She knew it was an accident, she was just _not_ in the mood.

So, when Takeru went into the pool with an undignified splash, she had the distinct feeling she had done something very wrong. He'd looked way more than surprised. There had been very real fear in his eyes as he slipped off the edge. Miyako's heart suddenly raced, but she felt frozen, arms still outstretched as if she could still reach out and pull him back.

She flinched at the second splash, and realized that Jyou had just jumped in with all his clothes on, shoes and all. Sora threw down her bags and forced herself to the edge of the pool, dropping to her knees and plunging a hand down at the wavy outline of her friends under the surface. Her hand was out a moment later, handing a pair of glasses to Hikari, who stood closest. Startled and confused, the rest of the younger group backed up a step or two.

Jyou was only under a few seconds before his head popped back out of the water. Takeru came up with him, sputtering and coughing. Sora quickly grabbed Jyou's arm to help hold him up.

The oldest chosen child looked up at her, water streaming from his hair and down his face.

"Thanks, Sora. But I think I can stand. Thank goodness it wasn't the diving area."

Miyako couldn't stop staring at Takeru. She had seen him frustrated. She'd seen him angry. He was often scared, worried about the digital world, or about their friends. In all the time they'd been friends, she didn't think she had ever seen him scared for _himself_.

Jyou had him under the arms, but it was most likely unnecessary. The chosen of hope was probably strangling him with how tightly he was hanging on. His eyes were wide and glazed, and Miyako could hear the hitch in his raspy breathing.

Sora let out a long breath, looking across the pool and waving away a lifeguard who was half out of his chair in concern. She tutted quietly and extended her hand again.

"Come on, let’s get you guys out of there before we get kicked out."

Jyou pulled Takeru away from himself enough to see the younger chosen's face. The chosen of hope relaxed slightly and seemed to become more aware of what was going on. He was still holding onto Jyou's arms much tighter than was necessary.

The flimsiest attempt at a grin Miyako had ever seen crept onto Takeru's face as he blinked at Jyou.

"We gotta stop meeting like this." His voice was a little hoarse and Miyako wondered how much of the pool he had swallowed.

The chosen of reliability frowned at his words.

"Yeah, Takeru, we really do." He sounded dead serious, but not angry.

Takeru's smile dropped of his face.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"Here, Takeru, I've got you." Sora helped heave him out of the water and passed him off to Hikari so that she could help Jyou up as well.

Miyako meekly followed to where Hikari had their soaked friend sit on a bench. He complied with a wet splat, appearing increasingly embarrassed as the moment dragged on. Ken gathered the things they'd dropped and placed them to the side of the bench.

The group being so quiet after having been so rowdy was a jarring change. Miyako's stomach churned slightly. The only thing that made her feel less guilty was the remorseful look on Daisuke's face. It had been a team effort she supposed. Hikari looked like there was a lot she wanted to say, but didn't want to attract everyone's attention to herself. She settled for resting a small hand on Takeru's shoulder.

Sora and Jyou made their way over as well, the latter scattering drops of water across the pool deck. He had put his glasses back on, but removed them again to run a hand over his face. He let his hand drop and sighed, fixing the chosen of hope with a shrewd look.

"Takeru, are you okay?"

Said boy raised his head slowly, peering up at his senpai through his dripping bangs. He let out a small damp cough before looking up fully and plastering what he hoped was an easygoing grin on his face.

"I'm fine. The pool tastes way better than the bay did."

While Miyako had no idea what to say to that, it appeared no one else had that issue.

"When the heck-"

"-not know how to swim?"

"Are you sure you're-"

"-the bay?"

Jyou was loudest, throwing his hand up in frustration. "Takeru, you can't bank on me or Gommamon being there every time you fall in the water!"

The blond boy's smile was forced, like he was trying to convince Jyou this whole thing was funny."Are you saying I shouldn't _rely_ on you, Jyou-senpai?"

Miyako had known Takeru to be able to get out of a lot by making people laugh about the situation… but that was not happening today.

"That's not funny, Takeru! I can't always be there! What if I wasn't here today? Who else here knows you can't swim? Miyako certainly doesn't."

The purple haired girl cringed. He hadn't said it like he was attacking her, but it hurt to know she was the one that put them in this situation.

Takeru looked away, playing with his hands in his lap and obviously uncomfortable. Miyako didn't know if she had ever seen Takeru get in trouble before. And by the look on his face, he couldn't stand someone being disappointed in him. Hikari squeezed his shoulder slightly. He tilted his head a little to touch his cheek to her hand.

"I'm sorry, Jyou-senpai," he said lowly.

The older boy deflated a bit.

"It’s not a matter of being sorry, Takeru. You need to learn how to swim. This summer." His tone was firm.

The blond boy stiffened and opened his mouth to protest, but Jyou beat him to it.

"No arguments. You're almost fourteen. How many times have you nearly drowned?"

Miyako found herself dearly hoping the number was two. Realistically, in order for what Jyou was saying to be true, this had to have happened before. But as to how many times had Jyou actually fished him out of the water? Oh, please let it be two.

"Takeru."

The boy accepted his fate and sat up to look Jyou in the eye. His knee started bouncing in agitation. "Four."

"Jesus, dude," Daisuke muttered.

Only Jyou looked unsurprised. Which legitimately shocked Miyako because she thought Takeru told Hikari everything. Yet she seemed just as thrown by this whole situation as the rest of them.

Jyou sighed, and it almost sounded like he was relieved. Like he had been hoping it wouldn't be a higher number.

Sora stepped forward.

"Why don't you have Yamato teach you? He's an amazing swimmer. In fact, why hasn't he taught you before now?"

Takeru's eyes blew wide and he sucked his lips in, deliberately avoiding her eyes.

Sora read him in an instant. "How on earth can he not know that you can't swim? He was there twice when you got knocked in," she said incredulously.

The chosen of hope made a face.

"I think he thinks I've learned since then. I mean, I was seven… and it just hasn't come up, okay?" he said remarkably testily seeing as he was talking to Sora, and they were always on great terms.

Miyako wished some of them had walked away. Given them some space. She felt awful for not doing it herself. Takeru must have felt ganged up on with all of them standing around staring while he was lectured.

"Takeru, I can understand that, but most seven-year-olds can at least swim a _little_. Why didn't you learn before that?" Jyou prodded too far.

" _Because_ -" Takeru jumped to his feet, startling them into taking a step back. "Most people start swim lessons when they're four, and when I was four my parents were really busy _getting divorced_ ," he said hotly, not looking anyone in the eye. "And then me and Mom were really busy _moving_ , and then we didn't have the money for classes, and I just never learned, okay?"

There was a half second where no one moved.

Then Takeru's brain caught up with his mouth. He stiffened, and when Sora gently reached out towards him, he took off. He slipped between Sora and Ken effortlessly and was leaving the pool area before half of them could process he had left.

"Damnit." Jyou looked to the sky and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Hikari, Sora, and oddly enough, Daisuke, made moves to follow him, but Miyako interrupted them.

"No, you know what? I got him. My bad, guys. Meet us out in the parking lot in a bit, okay?" She hefted her bag higher on her shoulder and waved her friends down.

Miyako walked quickly towards the exit. Takeru had a decent head start, but he was responsible enough that he wouldn't go too far. He was upset, but he wasn't actually running away.

As she left the pool area and turned toward the park, Miyako couldn't help but feel torn. It was probably for the best that this happened, that Takeru finally learn to swim after this. Telling Yamato would be terrifying, and honestly, for Takeru's sake, she wasn't sure it was necessary. It could save his life to know at least a few basic swimming techniques. On the other hand, this was somewhat traumatizing for the poor kid. They didn't need to escalate it by getting his brother worked up too. She never heard Takeru talk about things from when he was little, or his parents’ divorce. He had to have really agitated to snap at them the way he did. And now he was probably berating himself for doing so.

Taking a slow scan of the park, it didn't take the girl long to spot her friend. He was quite conspicuous, being soaking wet in his street clothes. She took her time making her way over to the swings to give him some time to cool off. He didn't acknowledge her when she lightly dropped her bag to the grass. Nor when she took the swing next to him.

"Hey," she said casually.

Nothing.

"Hey, Takeru."

He slumped, elbows catching on his knees and burying his face in his hands.

"Can you please go away, Miyako? I'm kind of mortified over here. On so many levels. So like. Please."

Miyako gave him a quiet moment.

"Hey, Takeru?"

The boy groaned and slowly looked over to her, eyes a little more bloodshot than they had been. "Thank you for respecting my wishes, Miyako, what can I do for you?" he asked sardonically.

"Takeru, how many siblings do I have?"

The chosen of hope's face crumpled, obviously not understanding why they were having a conversation at all.

"Uh, three," he replied.

"Do you know what happens when you have four kids?" Miyako asked softly.

Takeru noted her change in tone and squinted at her. "What?" he asked, slightly less annoyed.

"Sometimes you forget which kid did what, or who learned this or that, or which one does what after school and whatever. And sometimes things get overlooked. Or people," she said, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.

"Oh," her friend mumbled. "Yeah, I bet,"

"So," Miyako perked up. "I teach you how to swim, you teach me to ride a bike. How's that sound?"

Takeru sat up fully and gazed at her, a hesitant look on his face.

"It…It’s kind of embarrassing to learn to swim when there's always a ton of people at the pool. I feel like they're going to stare, and judge… and I feel stupid somehow. Even if I know it’s important. I’m a teenager. It’s humiliating."

The purple haired girl nodded understandingly but braced herself and gestured over her shoulder towards the pool. "Will it be more embarrassing than getting rescued and freaking out about it?"

A grimace was her only answer.

"Plus, I have to learn to ride a bike in public too. I'm going to be falling all over the place. It's a fair trade. We can both look like idiots, but we're getting something out of it."

Takeru sighed and looked at her, honesty in his eyes. "Miyako, I don't have a bike to teach you on. Does anyone in your family have one?"

She shrugged.

"We have one at the shop for deliveries, but it has all these baskets and things for holding the stuff. Would that get in the way or make it harder?"

"Mmm, probably. I don't know what to tell you, I mean I know Taichi-"

"Hey, doesn't Jyou-senpai have a bike?" she spoke over Takeru in her sudden inspiration.

"Yeah, he does...?"

Miyako smirked at him. "How bad do you think he feels about making you cry?"

Takeru balked at her. "I didn't cry!" he grouched defensively.

"Then why are your eyes all red?"

"I don't know, probably the chlorine!"

Miyako gathered her things and stood in front of him. She extended a hand and gave him a playful wink. "Well, we don't have to tell him that."


End file.
